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Wednesday, 25 September 2019

Mother eats uncooked rice for three days so daughter can eat bread

Like most parents, everything Aisha Othman does is for her seven-year-old daughter Paymitra Abdullah.

Along with her husband - Paymitra's father - they live at the Desa Rejang PPR (People's Public Housing) and survive on Aisha's husband monthly salary of RM1,500 as a security guard in Cheras.

However, Aisha said, the family has been saddled with utility bills and rent, along with her mother-in-law's backdated rent of close to RM5,000.

"After we settle the bills, then we can focus on what to eat.

"Usually, after we settle all the bills in a month, we have no more money," she said, adding that they normally can only afford groceries if her husband can find odd jobs.

One time, Aisha ate nothing but uncooked rice for three days as the family could only afford to buy bread, which they reserved for Paymitra.

"There is rice at home, so I only eat rice. Not rice but uncooked rice as well as ice cubes.

"I am afraid the cooking gas will run out (if I cook the rice).

"If I ever become too hungry, I will eat ice cubes," Aisha (photo above, with Paymitra) said.

The story of Aisha and Paymitra were the subject of a 20-minute documentary titled "For Paymitra" which was shown at the Freedom Film Festival 2019 (FFF 2019)

The director of the film, Azreen Madzlan said she was inspired to make a film about the financial struggles of a family living in a PPR unit after a Unicef report said one in five children living in low-cost flats in Kuala Lumpur suffered from malnourishment.

Paymitra is one of those who are underweight and malnourished, despite her parents' best efforts.

Towards the end of the movie, with help from Azreen, officers from the Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad's service centre were alerted to Aisha's plight and provided some basic food necessities to the family as well as information about welfare programmes they may qualify for.

Aisha also managed to find a job at a grocery store at Wangsa Maju to supplement the family's income.

The story of Aisha and Paymitra was just one of three films on poverty and the rising cost of living screened at the Lembah Subang 2 PPR last night

The special screening was organised by FFF 2019 together with the office of Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah, who was also present last night.

Bank account zero after RM50 withdrawal

The second film was titled "Pengidup Aku" and focused on Tonny Anak Iman, who works as a construction worker in Dalat, Sarawak.

Tonny was forced to leave his son behind at the longhouse in his village in the interiors, about two hours away by boat upstream, so he could work in the city to provide for his son.

Despite that, he only earns about RM60 a day.

"(My bank account) is zero after withdrawing RM50," Tonny said after he went to withdraw money from the ATM.

The documentary followed Tonny as he prepared for the Gawai celebrations where he gets to spend some time with his son.

"This is nice," Tonny said as he picked out an outfit for his son, Kevin while shopping together.

"It's RM32, so expensive," he said, before pausing to look at his son for a moment.

"Let's get this," he eventually told his son.

After the Gawai celebrations in his village, where there were dancing and singing, Tonny left his son behind as he headed back to the town to work.

Why can't they raise our salaries?

The third documentary "Bila Kami Bersatu" (When We Unite) highlighted the struggles of the workers' union for hospital cleaners.

There are more than 50,000 service workers in government hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia and most of them are cleaners, according to the film.

The film followed the union leaders as they attempted to negotiate with their employers for over 43 demands to be included in their collective agreement (CA).

One of the most important demands for the workers was a raise in the salaries, which was a flat rate of RM1,100, regardless of experience.

After negotiations with the employers, 28 out of their 43 demands were accepted.

Among the demands rejected by the employers was the salary increase.

"She has worked for 20 years but her salary is still RM1,100," argued one of the men representing the union.

The man representing the employers countered: "But 20 years ago, the salary was RM550, right?"

After the negotiations, the union held a post-mortem meeting where they lamented their stagnant salaries again.

"They think we are stupid because we are cleaners. It makes me so sad. They treat us like slaves. Why can't we get a raise in our salaries?

"Our children are getting older and our health is getting worse," one of the women in the union said, shedding tears as she spoke.

PSM had raised this issue earlier, at the end of August this year.

PSM deputy chairperson S Arutchelvan said cleaners for government hospitals received the minimum wage of RM1,100 regardless of their years of service as they are employed through a private contractor.

"When I asked the most senior person in the group, who has worked for 30 years, the shocking answer was that his salary was also RM1,100.

"Let's compare a top CEO's one-day income with the monthly income of our cleaners working in government hospitals.

"It will take our cleaners almost six years to get the CEO's one-day salary, and it will take them around 174 years to get his one-month salary.

"Isn't this obscene?" Arutchelvan questioned.

Active participation from the crowd

The screenings of these three films held at the Lembah Subang 2 PPR saw about 60 people in attendance, mostly children and families from the low-cost flats.

After the films were aired, an officer from the Seri Setia assemblyperson Halimey Abu Bakar's service centre gave a short talk explaining to the Lembah Subang 2 PPR residents about the various welfare programmes available to them.

He also explained to them their eligibility for these programmes, as well as the application process.

Though the crowd consisted mainly of young children, who were rowdy throughout the event, they remained interested in all the films and talks.

They also participated in the simple question-and-answer sessions held in between the screenings of the three documentaries, pointing out the main themes of the films and asking questions to the directors who were also present.

The night ended after a simple lucky draw prize-giving session, where the winners were given bags of rice.

Source: Malaysiakini

Mahathir’s Rule of Law successful execution - 5 innocent orphaned B75 Indian poor children

Uthayakumar Ponnusamy


Photos @ Funeral on 23.9.19: Mahathir’s Rule of Law successful execution - 5 innocent orphaned B75 Indian poor children, compliments of Malay-sian police UTK death squad execution under shoot to kill policy (Widow);Innocent until proven guilty British PR father & 2 others shot dead at close range,British PR mother’s enforced disappearance & 2 funerals in one home a triple tragedy.Orphaned 3 British Citizen & PR children vowing never to come back to Malay-sia ever again.10 year old daughter crying uncontrollably “Appa don’t leave us, Appa don’t leave us” as the hearse was leaving.Widow’s wailing “Thava will you came back”. 2 mothers' grieve & heart pain.And on the same day four more Indians are shot dead in a similar fashion in Putrajaya,an act of no remorse & signalling we will kill many more innocent B 75 Indian poor?with imunity!WHAT CAN YOU DO.NOW WE PH ARE IN POWER.





Home Minister Muhyiddin Yasin and IGP Hamid Bador must produce enforced disappeared British PR Moganambal

Uthaya Kumar
Live Video of CCTV proof from Condo Lift recorded at 22.33 pm on 13/9/19 (just hours before the police shooting) that Moganambal left home with her husband and the other two who were shot dead by the Malay-sian Police under a shoot to kill policy (as per the Widow's Police Report) of even innocent until proven guilty B75 Indian poor. Where is the police hiding Moganambal now, asks the family? Home Minister Muhyiddin Yasin and IGP Hamid Bador must produce enforced disappeared British PR Moganambal forthwith and not do a la Indra Gandhi's daughter cannot be found storytelling over the last 12 years!







Coalition of NGOs urge Sarawak govt to make a stand on khat issue

Malaymail

A coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and political parties today urged the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to make a stand on the proposed introduction of jawi for Year 4 pupils starting next year.

Seni Khat Action Team (Sekat) national secretary Arun Dorasamy said the GPS state government has a moral obligation to make a stand as the introduction of Jawi would have far-reaching implications on the future of the non-Muslims school children.


“We feel there is a hidden second agenda in the implementation of jawi in schools,” he told reporters here, claiming an element of religion is involved.

He also called on federal lawmakers from the Sarawak Pakatan Harapan (PH) and GPS to speak up against its implementation in Parliament session starting next month.

Arun also asked if the lawmakers from the two Borneo states or their respective chief ministers have ever written protest letters to Education Minister Maszlee Malik.


He also noted that the Association of Churches in Sarawak had issued its statement opposing the introduction of jawi in government schools, but did not know whether it had sent a protest letter to the minister.

Arun said three pages of the jawi script would be inserted into Bahasa Malaysia textbook which is going to be printed by the end of this month, adding that jawi lesson would be made compulsory for school children.

Arun also asked Maszlee and his deputy Teo Nie Ching to engage with NGOs, including parents-teachers’ associations, in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu for their views and feedback on the implementation next year.

He said the Education Ministry held five engagements with the NGOs in Peninsular Malaysia, but without the participation of any representatives from the two Borneo states.

“When I asked why there was no participation from Sarawak and Sabah, the reply was that they did not oppose,” he said, adding that he does not believe NGOs in the two Borneo states would not oppose the move.

He added the invitations for the engagement must be inclusive, not exclusive.

“The ministry has the moral obligation to bring all the stakeholders to the table and then to come out with an amicable decision.

“There is no reason for a rush implementation in 2020,” he said, claiming that the ministry would be printing the Bahasa textbook, with three pages allocated for jawi script, by the end of this month.

He said he had already written a letter on August 27 to Mazslee asking him to put the implementation of the jawi script on hold, but there was no response yet.

LTTE not a terrorist group, says MIC

Under-fire, DAP’s P Ramasamy found an unlikely ally from across the divide today when MIC’s C Sivarraajh defended the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and said it was not a terrorist group.

“I want to remind those who have labelled LTTE a terrorist group. It was never a terrorist group but the members were freedom fighters who fought for the oppressed Tamils in Sri Lanka,” he said while debating the royal address at the Dewan Rakyat.

The Cameron Highlands MP said they were just like other freedom fighters who continuously strive to uphold their rights.

He also urged the public not to analyse history according to their wishes “which makes other people angry. We live in a multiracial society and we must respect each other.”

On July 20, about 300 people protested against Ramasamy and rallied in support of fugitive Muslim preacher Dr Zakir Naik at the compound of a mosque in Dato Keramat in Penang.

The group demanded that Ramasamy should be arrested for “being an active member of a terror group” in Sri Lanka and also called on everyone to stop criticising Naik.

Ramasamy has been targeted by several Muslim activists, including Perlis Mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, in the wake of the controversy over the government’s handling of Naik, the Indian-Muslim preacher wanted by New Delhi over allegations of terrorism.

On July 28, a peace negotiator and former member of LTTE confirmed that Ramasamy was not associated with the group.

This was contained in an email sent to Ramasamy by Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, who is now practising law in New York.

Visuvanathan, in the email, said that the deputy chief minister was one of the members of a Constitutional Affairs Committee set up during the peace process to explore the modalities for peaceful resolution of the conflict in Sri Lanka.

He stated that in 2002, a peace process was initiated between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government, under the auspices of the Norwegian government, the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan.